Honeybees pollinate plants and provide honey, beeswax for cosmetics and candles, etc. Pollinated crops are estimated in U.S. agriculture to have a value of about 20 billion dollars per year. A Queen bee, drone bees, and worker bees live in a bee colony. The queen bee is the most important. She lays 1,500 to 2,000 eggs per day in order to maintain a strong colony. All worker bees are females.
Worker bees perform all of the work in a colony. They feed the larvae and they also care for the queen, feeding her “royal jelly”. They build new combs with wax secreted from special glands; process nectar collected by foragers. At about three weeks of their life, they leave the hive and become foragers, collecting nectar, pollen, water and propolis for various uses in the hive. They live an average of four to six weeks during the summer, much less than the queen's three to five year life span. Drones do not contribute to the welfare of the colony other than mating with the queen.
Varroa mites threaten the survival of honey bees and the food chain on a global scale. They infest the brood of a hive (drones and workers) and emerge with young bees to repeat the cycle. Drones are twelve (12) times more likely to be infested bees compared to workers while in honeycombs (Sammataro, D. et al., Ann Rev Entomol 45 519-548 (2000).
Beekeepers are losing 30-40% of their colonies each year to mites and starvation. In the US, almost 100% of feral (un-managed) honey bees and about 50% of managed honey bees have been annihilated by the Varroa Mite. Since the late 1980's, the varroa mite has become a major problem to the health of bees.
Scientists have struggled to assist beekeepers with chemical treatments for infestation problems. Chemical treatments are expensive and labor intensive, with inconsistent results. If chemicals are incorrectly used, they cause damage to honey bees and leave residues in the bee products. To make matters worse the Varroa Mites resistance to chemicals is increasing at alarming rates.
Various methods for trapping and destroying mites are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,061, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other than the method and apparatus which are the subjects of the patent, none have been entirely successful in destroying varroa mites. Other methods are described in Rosenkranz, P., et al., Apidologie, V28, N6 (November-December) pages 427-437 (1997); Kuenen, L. P. S., et al., Journal of Insect Behavior, V10, N2(March), Pages 213-228 (1997); Harbo, J. R., Journal of Apicultural Research, V32, N3-4, pages 159-165 (1993); Cunningham LNE96-066 (1996).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,432 discloses a heating element in a comb foundation for heating the honey to feed the bees in the winter. U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,061 uses heated wires to destroy mites without injuring bees or contaminating honey. One drawback of U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,061 is its high labor and design costs. Another drawback of U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,061 is a lack of an adequate control system. Another drawback is its lack of a means for economically treating multiple hives. Another drawback is a lack of a means for diagnosing the performance of the mite control apparatus. Another drawback is a lack of a wireless communication system for treating and monitoring multiple hives. Another drawback is a lack of a means for sensing the temperature of the mite control apparatus. Another drawback is a lack of an efficient design for heating the mite control apparatus. Another drawback is a lack of space in a frame for including electronic components.